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Somali Pirates Hijack Ship With 20 Americans Onboard
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There's one at school who isn't bad. Other than that I don't know many practicing ******s. As long as they keep there ****ty beliefs to themselves and don't blow things up, I don't give a **** about them.
MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) – The US military on Thursday prepared to send in more forces into the Horn of Africa region in a stand-off with Somalia pirates holding an American hostage on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean.
A day after pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama aid ship before being overpowered by the unarmed American crew, the high-seas drama remained unresolved with both the pirates and the US Navy promising to move in reinforcements.
After the four pirates were ousted from the 17,500-tonne Danish-operated container ship, they took the captain hostage on a lifeboat.
More naval ships and other resources were being deployed to the area, a US official told AFP, after the Navy sent in a destroyer and FBI negotiators to try to secure the release of the American.
"The safe return of the captain is the top priority," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Washington.
The FBI said "negotiators stationed at Quantico (Virginia) have been called by the Navy to assist with negotiations with the Somali pirates and are fully engaged in this matter."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the lifeboat was "apparently" out of fuel though military officials declined to confirm her account.
A spokesman for the Maersk shipping company, Kevin Speers, told reporters that "most recent contact with the Alabama indicated that the captain remains a hostage but is unharmed at this time."
Meanwhile the freighter was boarded by military personnel and the Alabama was headed to its destination port of Mombasa, in Kenya, with its cargo of aid destined for African refugees, US and company officials said.
The guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge arrived overnight to monitor the situation and prevent the pirates from securing their hostage on a larger ship, accompanied by a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft overhead.
It was believed to be the first US merchant ship hijacked since the North African Barbary Wars in the early 19th century, underlining the anarchy raging off Somalia despite an against piracy.
A commander from the group of pirates who took the ship said pirate reinforcements were on their way to try and help those holding the hostage, who are effectively surrounded.
"We are planning to reinforce our colleagues who told us that a navy ship was closing in on them and I hope the matter will soon be solved," Abdi Garad told AFP by phone from the northern pirate lair of Eyl.
"They are closely monitored by a navy ship and I think it will be difficult for us to reach the area promptly," he admitted, with US helicopters swirling the area.
"But we are making final preparations and will try our best to."
The Maersk Alabama's chief officer, Shane Murphy, told his father that the crew used "brute force" to overpower the pirates, who were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, ABC News reported.
The attack was the latest in a string of incidents in the region, a vital global shipping lane where increasingly brazen pirates on small skiffs have hijacked anything from small sailing yachts to huge super-tankers.
"These waters are infested with pirates that highjack (sic) ships daily," Murphy had written on his Facebook page recently. "I feel like it's only a matter of time before my number gets called."
At any given time more than a dozen foreign naval vessels operate in the vast area in a bid to deter .
They include ships from a US anti-piracy task force, a NATO force, a European Union mission as well as from China, India, Japan, Malaysia and Russia.
The Maersk Alabama had been due to dock in the Kenyan port of Mombasa on April 16 to deliver more than 5,000 tonnes of relief food supplies to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
"This is going to Africa to people in need. We're just bringing relief cargo," Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart said.
Over the past week, pirates have seized a German vessel, a small French sailing yacht, a British-owned Italian-operated cargo, a Taiwanese fishing vessel and a Yemeni tugboat.
The flurry of attacks, one of the worst ever off the coast of Somalia, shattered a relative lull in hijackings since the start of the year which now appears to have owed more to weather than increased naval presence
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090409...ppingdenmarkus
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Captain 'tried to escape pirates'
Capt Phillips was reportedly recaptured having jumped overboard
The US captain taken hostage by Somali pirates managed to jump off their lifeboat overnight but was recaptured, according to US media reports.
The escape attempt by Capt Richard Phillips was witnessed by a US navy ship nearby but happened too fast for it to come to his aid, NBC News says.
He was captured after a struggle on his ship, Maersk Alabama. Pirates seized the ship but the crew fought them off.
The US navy is bolstering its forces in the area to combat the pirate captors.
There are thought to be four pirates with Capt Phillips in the lifeboat, which has reportedly run out of fuel, and it is not yet clear what they are demanding.
The Maersk Alabama is reportedly sailing for the Kenyan port of Mombasa under armed guard.
Gen David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, said reinforcements would arrive within 48 hours, adding that a warship was already very close to the lifeboat.
But other hijacked ships with hostages aboard are also reported to be nearing the area to support the pirates on the lifeboat.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7993765.stm
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